Pain Predicts Psychopathology
Researchers from Italy, Hungary, and the U.S. investigated the extent that the subjective experience of pain in 575 psychiatric outpatients (without comorbid physical diagnoses)...
Lowering the Threshold for Bipolar: “More Harm Than Good”
Researchers publishing in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry argue that broadening the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder would result in a greater increase in...
Motherhood in Illness & Recovery
Researchers in Norway, publishing in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, explore the experiences of being a mother with mental illness; "their way...
Policy and Staffing are Key to Reducing Seclusion Rates
Dutch researchers examined the belief among psychiatric ward staff that patient characteristics explained the different rates of seclusion observed between facilities. They conclude that...
Former APA Member Protests the DSM on Fox News
Dr. Keith Ablow, who resigned from the APA in protest "some time ago," criticizes the unscientific and arbitrary process by which diagnoses are generated...
Differentiation of SSRI and Benzo Dependence/Withdrawal “Not Rational”
Researchers from the Cochrane Center and University of Copenhagen in Denmark, publishing in the May issue of Addiction, "explore the rationale for claiming that...
Utah Supreme Court Allows Lawsuit for Psychotropic-Induced Murder
Ruling that health care providers, while important, "are not entitled to an elevated status in tort law that would categorically immunize them from liability...
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Does Not Meet Criteria for a Disorder
Researchers in Italy found that of 105 subjects who met criteria for the DSM diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), only 18 had no...
Psychotropics Contribute to Suicides Among Military Children
The Marine Corps Times writes of a dramatic increase in prescriptions of psychiatric medication for children of active-duty military personnell during their parents' deployment...
Does Everyone Have a Mental Illness?
Psychiatrist and author Allen J. Frances, former chair of the DSM-IV task force, outlines why he thinks the DSM-V will lead to millions of...
Motherhood: Pride & Recovery
Researchers at the Rockland Psychiatric Center in New York found that of the 39% of female inpatients who were mothers, the majority reported having...
Former DSM Chair: DSM-5 “A Disaster,” Calls for APA Monopoly to End
Former DSM task force chairman Allen Frances reviews the rise of the DSM, crossing over from a research instrument to to a popular bestseller...
Attachment & Psychosis: Implications for Therapeutic Alliance
In what they say is the first study to investigate relationships between emotion regulation, attachment and the therapeutic alliance, researchers in Northwest England recruited 49...
Call For DSM-5 Reform Continues
Over 13,000 mental health professionals have signed an open letter from The Society for Humanistic Psychology (Div. 32 of the APA) to the DSM-5...
Loneliness and Mental Illness
Based on interviews with 7,461 adults randomly selected from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in England, researchers found that interventions addressing maladaptive social cognition...
Involuntary Treatment Burdened by Lack of Evidence
A review of Cochrane data finds a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of involuntary treatment; and an ethos of tradition rather than standards....
Disconnect Between Antipsychotic Prescribing and Metabolic Screening
Despite American Diabetes Association and APA recommendations of glucose and lipid testing for all patients started on antipsychotics, there is a disconnect between prescribing...
Army to Study Use of Off-Label Meds for PTSD
The Army will launch a major research initiative next year on the effectiveness of commonly prescribed medication for PTSD. Speaking at the APA meeting...
DSM-5 Field Trials Fail to Compare New Diagnostic Criteria with DSM-IV Criteria
Field trials for the DSM-5 fail to explicitly compare new proposed diagnostic criteria with those in the DSM-IV, a step that would be too...
Incoming APA President Emphasizes “Positive Psychiatry”
President-elect Dilip Jeste intends to lead the APA into an era of "positive psychiatry." "We should not be satisfied merely with treating symptoms in...
Depression Linked to Dementia in Later Life
A retrospective study of 13,535 long-term Kaiser Permanente members found that depressive symptoms in mid-life (1964-1973 for this cohort) were associated with a 20%...
Abbott to Pay $1.6 Billion for “Elder Abuse”, Off-Label Marketing
Abbott Laboratories has pled guilty to civil and criminal charges of illegally marketing Depakote for the control of agitation and aggression in elderly patients...
Antipsychotic Drugs and Relapse
Researchers from Germany, Greece and the U.S. reviewed the literature on relapse at 7 to 12 months following initiation of antipsychotic treatment. They conclude...
Benzos Quadruple the Risk of Suicide in Schizophrenia
Finnish researchers found that among 2,588 patients hospitalized for the first time with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, benzodiazepine use predicted almost 4x the rate...
DSM-5 Retreats from Some Controversial Diagnoses
The APA DSM-5 Development website announced today that "Psychosis Risk" and "Mixed Anxiety Depression" will not be included in the DSM-5 (apart from recommendations...
